Penn men's swimming splits final Ivy tri-meet, women go 0-2

The men’s and women’s swim teams are not starting the semester the way they would have liked.

The Red and Blue found themselves facing a tough road test, going up against Dartmouth and Yale in a tri-meet in Hanover, N.H., on Saturday.

On the men’s side, a strong performance by senior Brendan McHugh along with key contributions from younger swimmers was enough to push the Quakers (6-3, 3-3 Ivy) past the Big Green 157.5-142.5, but they were unable to defeat the Bulldogs, falling 188-112.

McHugh showed his dominance once again, placing first in both the 100 and 200 breaststroke while also breaking the pool record in the two events; his time of 2:01.17 in the 200 erased a mark that had stood since 1981.

The Quakers also dominated in the 200 freestyle, with freshmen Sam Ruddy, Konnor Scott and Alex Porter placing second, third and fourth, respectively, each finishing within a quarter second of each other.

Penn finished the day with a second place finish by their 400 freestyle relay, losing to the Elis by less than a half second.

The women’s meet had some last-minute drama, but the Red and Blue were unable to come up with wins, falling to Dartmouth 150-149 and Yale 161-138.

The matchup against Dartmouth came down to the final event, the 400 freestyle relay. Penn’s A team of Tina Hurley, Bernadette D’Alonzo, Samantha Husband and Shelby Fortin finished second behind Yale with a time of 3:28.67, breaking the existing pool record, but finishing just over a second after the Bulldogs (4-6, 2-5 Ivy). The Dartmouth A team claimed third, while the B team was able to outrace Penn’s second squad to capture fourth place and ultimately the meet.

The critical final event had been set up by key performances in numerous events prior, including notable second and third place finishes by seniors Laura Klick and Samantha Husband in the 100 and 200 breaststroke.

Sophomore Shelby Fortin also led the Quakers with two first place finishes in the 200 and 500 free, and a second place finish in the 100 free.

With this meet, the men's and women’s teams finished up their Ivy League seasons. Penn will have three non-conference meets before the Ivy League Championships in early March.